


Secrets from the Underground

by InfiniteSoul



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drug Use, Enemies to Lovers, Eren in a trenchcoat, Gangs, Graphic Violence, Gun fights, M/M, Maybe a little angst, Organized Crime, Sexual Content, Slow Build, War, future smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-01-11 10:39:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1172071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfiniteSoul/pseuds/InfiniteSoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren had always thought that he was untouchable, having everything he wanted, getting spoiled by his sister, who is the head of one of the biggest Gangs in the city of Shiganshina. But an unfortunate run in with a couple of seeming desperate rival gang members had Eren and Armin backed in to a corner. A strange man appears and handles the situation, and Eren can't help but feel awed, until the man who saved him finds out that he's the sibling of Shiganshina's gang leader. He forces Eren to come with him and if he refuses, Levi threatens that he will kill his best friend.</p><p>ON HIATUS!!!!!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Thinking we were Untouchable

**Author's Note:**

> I finally managed to get this out! AHH!  
> Well, first off this is my first fan fiction, so please bear with me for any mistakes and so on. T_T  
> But i'm super excited to finally contribute to my recent addiction of Riren, so yeah.  
> I knew i really wanted to make it so that both Eren and Levi eventually end up wearing trench coats together (because i thought it could be hot) but I was also seduced by the thought of making Levi dress sexy/classy, and I couldn't resist that, and the thought of both Mikasa and Levi being gang leaders and fighting each other with Eren in the middle. So boom, I gave birth to this fan fiction.
> 
> I'd also like to apologize for the somewhat lacking quality of this first chapter, but I promise, it will get better! *It's not that great, Im sorry* -goes and hides in corner-

There weren't many things that Eren really considered to be important enough to occupy his time much anymore, but getting ice cream with Armin had never failed to brighten his day, no matter how long it seemed to drag on. It was one of the only things he did that actually seemed to have some purpose behind it, even if that purpose was to just find a way to unwind from all the stress and get away from all the assholes at home who thought they were tough as shit (cough-Jean-cough). 

Not that he ever really got stressed. No, it was the complete opposite really. Stress was nonexistant in his life, simply put. Anything he wanted, he got. He didn't even have to work for it. All he had to do was drop a hint to his sister Mikasa, and he'd get the expensive snowboard he'd found at the store earlier that day, or the pair of sweatpants that cost a hundred bucks and hung in high class stores at the edge of downtown Shiganshina. Hell, he could have pointed at the ugliest person on the street and said, _"I want to fuck that",_ and it would have arrived in his decked out room on a decked out golden platter.

Eren sighed, smirking to himself. His tounge flicked out to lap at the raspberry flavored ice cream he'd purchased, frowning and licking his knuckles as some of the sugary dessert had began melting and dripping down his hand. If stress did exist in Eren's life, it existed in the purest form of melting ice cream on a hot, sweltering evening. His frown only deepened when he heard an amused laugh behind him, the bell on the ice cream shop door ringing to announce the opening of the door as Armin followed him outside.

"Having trouble, Eren?" The blonde chuckled, smartly holding his own ice cream with a bunch of napkins. "You look like you're about to throw it on the ground, and I'd really hate to see that if Sasha just so happened to walk by later."

Eren turned to glare at his best friend over his shoulder as he attempted to hurriedly devour his treat before it melted completely and dripped onto his black combat boots. 

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go, Mikasa is probably waiting for you to get back so you can give her her papers or some shit." It was then Eren's teeth accidentally brushed against the frozen ice cream bar and he recoiled away from it immediatley, a massive shiver traveling down his spine as his limbs jerked from the cold. 

Armin raised an eyebrow in amusement, watching Eren's face relax before turning and heading down the sidewalk. Eren followed after casting his ice cream a dissapointed glare.

"I suppose you're right, but can we not talk about work, Eren? I hate talking about stuff related to the gang when we're out together. It totally ruins the nice feelings that getting ice cream brings. Besides, you don't even know all the filing and reporting I have to do for Mikasa right now."

"I bet I do, I'm there half the time when you report in," he challenged, turning back to wave at the cashier through the glass of the ice cream shop as they left, giving a thumbs up to Marco before they dissapeared. Marco smiled and gave a small wave, and Eren felt a warm feeling settle in his chest at the sight. He'd sort of been trying to flirt with the adorable little worker the past few times they'd gone in, unable to resist, but unable to produce any successful moves to impress him. 

_Next time then_ he decided, huffing in slight annoyance when Armin interupted his thoughts. His friend was basicly screaming in his fucking ear.

"Then you should know I never leave that huge office of hers!" Armin cried, shaking his head as he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Oh my god, just nevermind."

"I know you don't, that's why I bring you food." Eren replied smuggly, ignoring Armin's attempt to leave the conversation alone.

"Eren. No, don't even."

"But-"

"I swear, if you open your mouth and try to keep this going, I will write a report to Mikasa as to why you've become the next murder target," Armin warned, but his lips threatened to twitch up into a smile. 

Eren threw his head back and laughed, the last rays of sun hitting his face and hair at just the right angle. The sun was starting to set, just as it always did around the time the two of them went out for their routine ice cream stop at the end of almost every day. Threads of gold and orange bathed the city in a beautiful hue that made the city look so much more peaceful than it really was from the hill they passed. Eren turned to watch the fading sun, and although he hated the heat, the way it was positioned right above the city took his breath away. It was something he tried to admire every chance he got. It gave off a false illusion he just couldn't help but admire. The fact that something so dark could be covered by something so pretty was fasinating.

The two walked down the side of the road in silence, Armin sporting a simple dark green hoodie and black jeans, while Eren was dressed in black skinny jeans and his favorite pair of combat boots, a dark red shirt hugging tight to his chest to complete the look. 

Both of their ice creams were gone by the time two made it into the heart of downtown Shiganshina, having tossed thier trash when they'd stopped to let Eren take a piss break at his favorite coffee house. They carried themselves with confidence, despite the nature of the place they were in. They had nothing to fear.

This was their terf.

Plain. And. Simple.

Mikasa had become the leader of the 104's when she'd beaten their old leader, Hannes, at a boxing match. Quite simply, she'd kicked his ass. She gained the respect of all the 104 members either that day or soon after, and Eren had been there to fight for her until the end. She rebuilt the gang from the ground up, and in the process, had the whole city in the palm of her hand. Even the cops turned a blind eye at anything that involved the 104's. They could literaly do whatever they wanted. This town belonged to them, Eren and Armin even more than the regular members. 

The funny thing was, was that Eren didn't even have to do anything. At all. He didn't have to clean, cook, kill, bargain, work, nothing. He was the prince of the underground. Whatever he said went, _exactly_ like he said it, down to the _last goddamn detail_. In a way, Eren was the leader of the 104's, not Mikasa. He could manipulate her just like the rest if he so desired, and whenever he got bored, he did exactly that. But he never just came out and said what he wanted, he made her work for it, giving her small clues here and there. But as always, she'd figure out whatever it was that Eren wanted and he could watch something as amusing as a blood battle from the comfort of his own bed by simply peering out the window. He was a king in the shadows, and he loved every second of it.

He sighed happily, distracted by his thoughts until he noticed how stiff Armin had become walking next to him. It was like he had a fire poker up his ass. Maybe he was constipated or some shit. Eren turned to his friend, nudging him with his elbow playfully. "Hey, you alright?"

Armin jumped at Eren's touch, flinching away from him just slightly, his eyes roaming the street nervously, hardly paying Eren any notice. If he hadn't been worried before, Eren was definatley worried now, and he focused all of his attension on the blonde boy. 

"Armin, what's wrong?"

The sun had almost compleltey sunk behind the tall buildings that made up downtown, the last rays of light not having a chance at lasting any longer than ten minutes. 

"We're being followed. . ."

Eren's senses lit on fire. The two continued walking, instinct telling both of them to continue acting normal. 

"Where." Eren asked. Armin didn't need clarification. He simply reached over and lightly touched the right side of Eren's palm and pulled away. He glanced over his right shoulder only slightly and narrowed his eyes at the sight of a man with two different shades of hair following them several yards back, glancing away when Eren caught his eye. 

_Shit_.

Eren picked his pace, trying to remember the fastest way to get home in the shortest amount of time. Armin seemed to be trying to do the same, jogging a bit in order to catch up to and match Eren's pace. Sea green eyes met a pair blue as the two gave each other a worried glance. 

Neither of them had the slightest guess as to why they were being followed. Hardly anyone dared to even try to pull anything in this town anymore. If you did something that the 104's didn't like, you were taken care of in any way that seemed to fit the moment. Armin had even witnessed somone shot to death when some unlucky bastard had successfuly managed to piss of Mikasa. Neither of them had told Eren why the man had shot, and having judged their expressions, he knew it involved him in one way or another.

So it was even more unbelievable when Eren took a sharp turn into an alley that was was often used as a shortcut back to the hideout, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw another man standing against the wall.

Fuck.

Eren narrowed his eyes, noticing that this man had the same black trenchcoat that the man following them did. 

That's when it hit him. 

And dammit if he didn't know how royally fucking screwed they were. 

Armin crashed into his back at Eren's abrupt stop, giving him a confused, paniced look as the two-toned haired man that had been following them previously stood at the entrace to the alley, trapping them in inside. 

The man who had been leaning against the wall pushed off of it, rolling his body in the process as he stood to block the other exit. His thick build made Eren grit his teeth in frustration. 

"Eren," Armin's paniced voice shook from behind him, causing Eren to cast a dangerous glare over his shoulder. 

The two-tone haired man was slowly walking towards them, his eyes half lidded in what Eren could only guess was a mock interpretation of boredom. But the man's eyes were anything but calm. They were swarming with desperation, and Eren had to take a step back from the amount they held. 

Fear started to take hold of him, confusion clouding his thoughts as to why he and Armin were being cornered like this. Sure, they'd gotten in their fair share of fights before, but this was different.

Oh God was this different.

With a wide-eyed, shaking Armin next to him, Eren tried to appear calm, but the fact that he didn't know who these men where and what they wanted was honestly scaring the living fuck out of him. They were gang members, that much was certain from the matching trenchcoats, but Eren had never seen them before. He knew what all the others gangs in town wore, and these guys definately were _not_ from Shiganshina.

 _A neighboring city maybe? But then, why are they here? And why follow us?_

Eren could only think silently to himself as the man approached him, and Eren pushed Armin slightly behind him as he advanced. 

The man stopped in front of Eren, his lidded eyes meeting Eren's alert ones. 

"Eren Jeager?" He asked.

Eren tensed, clenching his fists at his sides.

"What."

The man's eyes widened slightly before lashing a hand out to snatch Eren's arm. "You and your little friend are coming with me." He stated, starting to yank Eren along as he reached into his black trenchcoat. "My boss . . . he'll forgive us . . . I just know it, and we can go back-"

"No!" Eren screamed, rage fueling his actions as he yanked out of the mans grip. He turned back to find Armin, but saw his friend at the mercy of the other man who had blocked the only other exit, pushing Armin after Eren and his captor. His head swung back. "I'm not fucking going with you! I'm not going without a fight, if you think you can just drag me along like im a damn dog!"

The mans gaze darkened. "Very well then, you little runt."

The man didn't give Eren any time to react as he struck his foot out and kicked Eren in the stomach. Spit flew out of Erens mouth before he was thrown against the alley wall, slamming painfully into the concrete. All the air seeming lost to him, Eren slumped again the wall, his ass hitting the floor. Armin called out his name, but Eren was too distracted in trying to catch his breath and the fact that the man was advancing on him again, this time with a knife in his hand. 

Eren gave the two-tone haired freak a dark glare, meeting the man's gaze defiantly as he pressed the blade up to Eren's neck, looking ready to slug him across the face-

"Auruo, you sly little fuck." A deep, rich voice sounded, causing Eren's breath to hitch and his attacker, seeming to be the mentioned Auruo, to freeze in his tracks. 

Both dared a glance at the entrance to the alley. A somewhat short man, accompanied by a seemingly tall one, stood there, a murderous gleam in his eyes as he zeroed in on Auruo. 

The new mystery man was dressed rather elegantly, clad in black dress pants, a red longsleeve dress shirt that was rolled up to his elbows and a black vest over the top of it. A cigarette hung between his lips, and Eren couldn't help but notice the military-undercut of black hair.

"What the living fuck do you think you're doing. I told you to get your ass out of my sight, but here your smart ass is anyways." The shorter man stepped over to Auruo, stopping only when Auruo's trenchcoat brushed his shoes, glaring down his nose at the man. "Care to explain to me what you're doing to this kid before I lose my patience?"

Eren hadn't moved since the man had appeared, and both of the men who had attacked Armin and him had frozen in obvious fear at the sight off the black haired man. It was awe inspiring really, that one man could control people so easily with just his presence. It made him wonder who he really was, what sort of person he acted as.

Auruo trembled in fear, the knife in his hand shaking and causing him to give Eren a slight cut on his neck. Eren winced.

"Y-you see Corporal, w-we just heard of some insight that-! We just wanted to please you, and-!"

Auruo was suddenly flung away from Eren as the shorter man kicked Auruo across his face. 

"You seriously think I would let you come back, you fucker? No matter what you do, I'm not going to let you two-" He paused upon finally setting his eyes on Eren's face. No emotions flickered through the man's eyes, which only made it all the more nerve-wracking as he bent down to meet Eren's gaze levely.

"What's you're name? I apologise for my subordinates filthy behavior. I'll make sure it won't happen again."

Eren nodded, but kept his mouth closed. The intent stare the man was giving him made him feel as if he was too interested to hear the answer. 

When he said nothing, a dark look passed the mans face. 

"He responded to being called 'Eren Jaeger', Corporal." The man who stood behind Armin answered for him.

Eren cursed under his breath.

The black haired mans eyes gleamed in interest. "Did he now."

He rose to his feet, casting a bored look at Auruo, who was clutching his bloodied nose. "Perhaps I'm feeling generous today. Auruo, you did well." He snorted, grimacing as though it wasn't something that happened often. He turned back to Eren, who was still very much confused.

_What the fuck is even happening right now?_

"You're coming with me, kid." 

Eren's eyes widened before they lowered, baring his teeth at the man. 

"Like hell I am." 

Amusement lit up the 'Corporal's' face. "Fine, have it your way. But don't blame me when your friend ends up dead because you chose not to cooperate." He shrugged. 

Eren's face blanched. Armin, he'd totally- 

-forgotten he was there. 

He turned to look at his friend, watching in horror as the still unnamed man in the black trenchcoat held up a gun to Armin's head. Armin was already crying. 

Eren grit his teeth, turning back to the Corporal to see he was already walking away, not seeming to care what happened anymore. 

"Wait, I'll go! Just leave Armin alone!" He yelled. 

The man stopped, his taller accomplice handing him a slip of paper before walking away himself. The Corporal glanced over his shoulder. "Done. Let the boy go. Let him run back to Mikasa to tell her what we've got of her's." 

Both Eren and Armin gave the man a startled look. "What?" They replied in unison. The gun was put away, and Armin was suddenly pushed forwards, past Eren and then the black haired man, and out onto the sidewalk. 

"Go." The man who pushed him commanded, pointing the gun at him again. 

Armin's eyes were wide with fear, and Eren could tell he so desperatley wanted to run, but the fact that Eren was being left to the strange people who had attacked them was holding him back. He turned to meet Eren's gaze, and Eren nodded. Armin took the hint, and turned and ran. 

"Good, he'll tell Mikasa that we've got her little brother. We could make use of this." The Corporal said, reaching up to take a drag of his cigarette. 

Eren narrowed his eyes at him, climbing to his feet unsteadily. "Who are you? How do you know Mikasa?" He snarled. 

The black haired man snorted, casting Eren a cold stare. "My name is Levi. I'm the leader of the Wings of Freedom, the gang who lives in Trost city. I know Mikasa because of that." 

Eren froze, feeling his heart pound through his chest. 

"Gang leaders tend to know one another, even if they don't live so close. You really should know this, especially since it's because of you the 104's get into so much shit all the time. At least that's what I hear. But that's too bad now. Your coming back with me. You're not a 104 anymore. And if you try anything funny, I'll have it so you're little friend who was here ends up dead and floating down the fucking river. Got it, brat?" 

Eren couldn't even form a response. 

Oh no. No, when he thought he was fucked before, it didn't even come close to how fucked he was now. And man, was he fucked good. 


	2. Bullets of Desperation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I gave you a choice, and you chose. It's a simple decision, something that happens often in life." He paused. "And something that will be happening more often for you soon enough. Get used to it kid, the world doesn't like to play fair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, second chapter update!  
> I feel like it's really long, but at the same time it's really short. Oh well.  
> I tried to add humor in a few places, but i don't know how that worked out though... I also tried to make this chapter a little more interesting, so I hope you all enjoy!

The day ended up becoming even more eventful than it had already proven to be. 

As soon as Levi had decided it was time to leave, claiming that it wasn't a great idea hanging around when there would probably be people searching for them in at least twenty minutes, he'd pulled out his phone and held it to his ear as it rang. Whoever was on the opposite line picked up faster then Eren could possibly blink.

Although he wouldn't say it out loud, mostly because he really didn't want to end up getting kicked across the face like Auruo had, Eren desperately hoped that Armin had reached his sister, and were both on their way to find him. He'd be thankful even if someone like Jean ended up finding him at this point. 

"I need the car right _now_ , Hanji. " Levi suddenly growled into the speaker, irritation causing him to gnaw on the cigarette that still clung between his teeth. Eren watched the movement with a bored expression. 

Levi paused as the other person said something, to which he just snorted.

"No, I didn't _murder_ anyone, Jesus Christ. But if you don't send the car _right fucking now_ , that's going to change very quickly." 

A burst of laughter sounded from the other side of the line before an affirmative sound was made and Levi hung up, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his black dress pants and let his back rest against the wall. They'd moved locations since Levi's gang had sent Armin running for Mikasa, and Eren was starting to feel even more cornered then when he'd had Auruo's knife pressed to his neck. Levi never moved out of eyesight of Eren, and if he moved just slightly too far away, Auruo and his companion were right there next to him and making it impossible to give Eren a clean break. 

He was pretty certain that his frustration was clearly showing, judging from the tightness Eren felt on his face, but he didn't care. He wanted them to know that he had every intention of resisting these people and not giving them what they wanted. 

But they already seemed to have pieced that together, so when a promised sleek black car parked itself in front of the alley they'd moved to, Eren was handcuffed behind his back right at the moment he'd finally managed to plan an escape route for himself.

_God fuckin' dammit._

Someone from inside the vehicle opened their door and moved to open the back one, stepping aside with her free hand behind her back. Levi moved towards the open door, but stopped to glance back as Eren was pushed forward, his expression unchanged. Eren on the other hand was starting to panic, his breathing turning ragged as it started to speed up. He was officially getting kidnapped. . . if agreeing to go with someone was actually considered kidnapping.

Levi didn't move as Auruo and the un-named man with the darker skin complexion lead Eren to the car, one on either side of him and leading him by his elbows. It make him feel as though he was going to jail. Or that he took someone's candy. Or weed. Which he probably had at some point in his life (What could he say, Eren liked his brownies).

The young woman who held the car's door open looked slightly confused by the fact that Levi hadn't climbed in the car yet, and she gave him a questioning look. Feeling her gaze on him, Levi turned to acknowledge the girl with the short auburn hair before motioning her to get into the car first. 

"Get in, Petra. And pull your gun out, shits about start," he ordered, he himself reaching into his black, tight fitting vest and pulling out his own gun. The woman named Petra seemed somewhat shocked by the switch in roles, but she complied without asking, reaching into her trench coat and pulling out two hand guns, one of them with a silencer attached to its barrel. Eren's blood turned cold at the sight of it, his sea green eyes going wide as he dug his heels into the pavement in refusal to go any further. 

They were going to kill him. What else would explain the one silencer the woman held as she climbed quickly into the car and took her seat on the far side by the window. Levi was holding the door open now, his gun hanging loosely at his side as he waited for Eren, who was attempting to skid his combat boots on the ground in order to put up resistance, to which both men hold him were having none of and simply picked him up and carried him over to the car. Eren let out a cry of anger and fear, his wide eyes never leaving the guns that were held in Petra's hands. 

"You little shit, we don't have time for this," Auruo snarled when Eren started thrashing about in the air, managing to kick one or both men in the thigh as he tried to wrestle his arms away from them. 

"No, no! She-she's got a-a. . ." His voice trailed off, tears starting to spring to his eyes as he was carried, with effort, to the car door. The woman who sat in the car turned to look at him upon hearing him address her, her face full of confusion. 

"Got what?"

"Hey." Levi's voice caused everyone to freeze at the strictness that was put behind it. Eren turned to meet his gaze, sea green orbs meeting steely blue. He stared at Eren, looking more than a little irritated, but a small trace of sympathy was hiding somewhere among his features. "Kid, if we wanted you dead, you'd be dead by now. Petra's not going to kill some idiot like you, especially not without my permission, so stop worrying about it and get in the damn car before--"

" _Eren!_ " 

Four heads snapped to the side the same time that the image of Mikasa rounded the corner, soon followed by who Eren recognized as Jean, Ymir, and Connie, all of them struggling to keep up with their leader as she bolted forwards. Her eyes were trained on Eren, but with quick look to the side, she spotted Levi, who cursed under his breath. Her eyes darkened immensely, and Eren could almost see the 'kill' button turn on inside her head. 

"Mikasa!" He cried, fighting back even harder now as his sister drew closer to him, a gun of her own posed in her hands. 

"Damn it, move!" Levi hissed, turning around and harshly pushing Eren, Auruo and the other man into the car as he took shelter behind the open door. Eren landed on his face, since he wasn't able to catch himself due to the handcuffs that chained his wrists, surprised and somewhat glad to feel that he hadn't landed in Petra's lap. She had instead opted for sticking her body out the window of the vehicle to shoot at Ymir, Connie, and Jean in order to keep them from advancing to assist Mikasa, who was taking cover behind an alley wall as she exchanged shots with Levi.

Eren let out a yelp of pain as fingers suddenly dove into his hair and pulled back, hard. Another hand snatched onto his bicep and pulled back as well until Eren was sitting upright in his seat with Auruo cursing animatedly on his right. 

Through the windshield of the car, Eren watched as Connie was hit in the leg, and he cried out. Ymir raced over to him, anger lighting her face as she shot towards Petra, using her bullets as a defensive maneuver in order to get Connie out of danger, dragging him with one arm wrapped around his chest as she shot until they were out of danger. Petra took cover inside the car for a moment, before lunging back out and shooting at Jean as he tried to make a beeline for Mikasa to back her up. He turned on his heel as Petra's bullets whisked past him, taking cover behind another car, frustration breaking on his face. 

Eren didn't have much time to think about the safety of his friends before Petra slid back into the seat beside him and rolled her window up. Whoever was in the drivers seat slammed the gear into drive and inched forward a little to indicate it was planning on leaving. 

Levi placed one foot inside of the car as he shot over the door, forcing Mikasa to retreat again as she tried to inch closer to the vehicle. He switched one hand over to the door handle, pulling it slowly closed as he continued to shoot. Then in one fluid movement, Levi jumped into the car, slammed the door closed, and locked it. The driver didn't hesitate to put the petal to the metal, tires squealing as the car lurched forward and sped off down the street. 

Bullets hit the car as it drove away, but they did little more then make small indents and glance right off. 

Bulletproof. Of course.

A heavy sigh left Levi's lips as he pulled his gun up to examine it and check how many bullets he had left, snorting when he only appeared to have three remaining. "That was damn close."

Eren, ignoring everyone in the cramped car, glanced over his shoulder and out the back window. Mikasa stood in the middle of the street, her hands at her sides and an utterly broken expression in her eyes. Jean raced over to her, he too watching as the black car took Eren away. Ymir glared from the sidelines, doing her best to keep Connie on his feet as his body threatened to buckle from the pain coursing through his body. 

Tears threatened to pool in his eyes, but he fought them back, instead glaring daggers at the shorter man that had made this all happen. To him, and the people he cared about.

Levi caught Eren's gaze and held it. Eren bared his teeth at him, his eyebrows pulling together in rage. Levi didn't seem affected in the slightest, and he silently slipped his gun underneath his black vest. 

"Look brat, it's nothing personal. It's just what happens when you get into this sort of life. Again, you should know this. Are you really so clueless about living the life that you do?" He scoffed, leaning back into the seat and crossing his legs, arms folding over his chest. "I'm surprised you managed to make it this far with how little you seem to know."

Eren glowered at the dark haired man. "It's not my fault that it's not normal for people to get kidnapped here for no fucking reason. I'm sorry I was unaware that kidnapping was something that people just did for fun in Trost."

"You agreed to come with us. Don't give me that bullfuck."

"You didn't give me a choice!"

"You chose your friends' life over your freedom. In the end, you still made a choice, Jaeger."

"What was I supposed to do when you threatened to kill him?! Just let him die? What the hell else did you think I would do?!" He was nearly screaming now, determination to prove he was right pulsing through him. 

Levi just shrugged. 

"I gave you a choice, and you chose. It's a simple decision, something that happens often in life." He paused. "And something that will be happening more often for you soon enough. Get used to it kid, the world doesn't like to play fair."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At some point during the car ride, Levi had made Auruo place a bag over Eren's head before they'd completely left Shiganshina. Eren hadn't even bothered trying to fight back anymore. He wasn't going to waste his energy on something that was going to happen one way or another. 

Eren felt nothing but the turning of the car as they continued towards their destination, but he knew better than to pay any special attention to it. All gangs worked car rides the same way at least, so he knew what to expect when they only came to stop after a good hour and a half later. 

The bag was removed from Eren's head gently, and he turned to see that all of the men that had been seated next to him had already left the confinements of the car, and Petra gave him a small, apologetic smile as she placed the bag on the floor of the car. 

"I'll help you out. Levi still wants you handcuffed, I'm sorry," she said, reaching out to him. Eren pulled out of her range, a dark snarl on his lips. 

"I don't need your help."

Petra frowned, sympathy clear on her face. "Okay. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push you," she whispered before opening the door on her side and stepping out, leaving it open for Eren to clumsily climb out of. She closed it as soon as Eren was on his feet, motioning for him to walk to the other side of the car. Eren ignored her to instead give himself a good look around. They were somewhere in an underground parking lot, but it was small and was only occupied by a large row of fancy cars and motorcycles. Eren was momentarily perplexed by the number of them, specifically eyeing a dark black Kawasaki bike that sat perfectly parked in the closest space to him. Petra noticed Eren's fixation with the bike and lightly chuckled. 

"Those are all Corporal's," she said, smiling. "He has a thing for fancy, fast motorcycles. Maybe he'll let you take one out for a ride sometime," she stated, before lightly pushing on Eren's back. "But we should really be going. Corporal's been waiting for a while now."

Eren huffed in response, casting the sleek bike one last look before he was led around the car to a large set of double doors, which opened after Petra swiped some form of a card over a device next to the door. The red light on the device turned green as the doors opened, and Petra ushered Eren inside as the doors closed just as quickly as they'd opened. A bare hallway stretched before them. Petra gently placed a hand on Eren's back, urging him to move forward. He complied, stalking down the hallway until they reached another door. This time, Petra swiped her card and simply stood there. A small camera that was perched in the corner turned to examine the pair, a few seconds passing before the opening of the lock echoed throughout the hallway. The door was then opened by two men, both clad in dark clothes and a black trench coat, neither acknowledging Petra or Eren as they walked past. 

The sight before Eren stunned him into awed silence.

The large room they'd stepped into was undeniably beautiful. A large chandelier hung from the center of the room, causing a fury of soft light to bounce around the enclosed space. All of the furniture was elegant and top class, and two side staircases took up the back sides of the large room, leading up into what appeared to be other hallways and doors. Several hallways lead off from the bottom section as well, but all of the lights leading from them were turned off. Seemed as though most of the Wings of Freedom members were asleep, save for the two men in the middle of the room. One had crashed onto one of the fancy couches while to other man sat in an elegant chair, looking a little too alert for his own good. 

"Gunther, Auruo, where's Corporal? He's still here, right?" Petra asked as she and Eren walked towards her two companions. 

Auruo waved his hand dismissively. "He's in his office," he said, pointing up to the balcony right above them. Petra waited for him to say more, but Auruo glanced away with a bored expression, offering nothing else useful. Petra sighed. "Please tell me you're not trying to act like Corporal Levi again, you just look stupid when you do that."

"Hey! I do not!" Auruo bit back.

"Yes, you do," the other man that had helped bring Eren here, who he now knew as Gunther, agreed. The man turned to Petra, folding his arms over his chest. "Corporal said that he wanted for you and Jaeger to head up to his office when you came in. He wanted us to wait out here until you two were done speaking with him," Gunther said. 

Petra nodded, both of them successfully ignoring Auruo's attempts to defend himself, shouting something along the lines of 'I'll be just as strong as Corporal one day, you'll see!' Eren was not so successful, and he found himself wanted to punch the annoying man in the face to make him shut up. Seeing Eren's features twist with irritation, Petra gave him an understanding glance as she reached out and gently grabbed his arm, tugging him away. "Thanks Gunther, we'll try and hurry."

He simply nodded as Petra walked over to one of the side staircases and pulled Eren up with her. When they reached the top, Eren noted that two hallways lined the walls on both sides. A large balcony was expanded before him, a few chairs sitting at the edge of it so it was possible to look down and see everything in the room below. In the middle of the back wall were two large metal doors, a faint trace of light peeking out from underneath them. 

Eren let Petra lead him over to the double doors, realizing that he was slowly starting to become comfortable around her. She wasn't like the typical gang member. There was something about her that just seemed to _radiate_ kindness and reassurance. 

"Okay," she said, leaning over to whisper into Eren's ear. "This is Corporal Levi's office. I don't know exactly what'll happen in here, but Corporal's usually very reasonable." 

Eren snorted at that. 

Petra frowned. "I do know that we're not here to kill you, Eren," she said, and he flinched. It was the first time that he'd heard his name since Mikasa had screamed out to him. "That's the last thing on Corporal's mind right now." 

Eren just glared. So what _was_ on that bastard's mind then? Turn him a drug whore? Sell him off to some other gang who thought that they could get a few hits off of him? He could just see it now, he thought bitterly.

Petra reached forward and knocked on the metal door twice. "Petra Ral reporting, sir, along with Eren Jaeger."

"Come in," the smooth, yet harsh voice seeping though the doors, and Petra reached down to open them. She held the door open for Eren as he sauntered in, gently closing them as she filed in after him. Eren's eyes immediately flew to the man sitting at a large and neatly organised desk in front of a wall that was made entirely out of glass. The moon shone through the large window, proving to be the only source of light besides a small lamp in the far right corner, a woman sitting in a lounge chair and reading a book. 

Although it it would have been slightly alarming that the woman had basically thrown her book up in the air without a second thought and started barreling towards him, Eren couldn't take his eyes off of Levi. As far as Eren could tell, Levi had ditched his classy black vest in favor of wearing his red dress shirt, two of the top buttons undone to reveal the strong line of his collar bone. Black hair was illuminated against the moon's glow, and the light from the lamp gave his alabaster skin a slightly warm hue that was barley noticeable. And his eyes. Oh god his eyes. Steel grey pools that cut through the darkness and pinned Eren in place. This was the same man that had basically-?

His thoughts were cut short as he felt someone wholeheartedly wrap their arms around him and lift him up into the air to pull him in for a death grip/hug. And damn if his eye balls didn't nearly shoot out of his head. 

"Eren Jaeger!" The woman holding him squealed, a pair of glasses perched on her nose as she beamed an overly excited smile up at him. "This is going to be so much fun! Oh my God, Levi, you have to-"

"Jesusfuck, put the kid down Hanji, he looks like he just shit himself. You really need to stop terrorizing brats, they're gonna pull a taser on you someday, and when that happens I'm going to sit back and watch with a bag of popcorn."

Hanji laughed, setting Eren back on his feet. "But it's just so much _fun_ to scare them senseless," she pouted, giving Eren a thorough examination. She made a clicking sound with her tongue as she took a few steps back. "You picked up a nice one. He's pretty cute."

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hanji, get your ass over here, this is supposed to be a serious meeting."

Hanji nodded, reaching out and bringing Eren forward to stand in front of Levi's desk. Petra remained in front of the doors, her hands behind her back as she watched the scene take place in front of her silently. 

Levi tossed a key to Hanji, and she caught it single handed before bending down to unlock Eren's handcuffs. Eren let out a surprised gasp and his wrists fell free from the restraints, and Hanji tilted her head back and laughed. "What, you thought you were gonna be here the entire time with those things on? Oh honey, while Levi is a pitiful heartless bastard, the rest of us are usually rather decent. It pains me so to see you doubt us," she said sarcastically, sighing for dramatic effect. Eren could only offer her a nervous smile. 

"Now then, let's get back to business before I end up snapping someone's neck," Levi said, his rough growl catching everyone's attention, but his eyes were trained unblinkingly on Eren. Hanji shrugged, a smile plastered on her face as she went to plop her ass down on the edge of Levi's desk. He shot her a murderous glare, but did nothing about it. He turned to face Eren, his hands folded in front of his face so he could peer at Eren over the tops of his knuckles. "Alright Jaeger, this is how it's going to go. You are going to be staying here with us until I've decided you can go back to your sister. Which could be tomorrow, or could be never. So don't get your bratty little hopes up at leaving anytime soon. You will accompany the Wings of Freedom on assignments and so on. I've also given my men free reign to gun you down if you try to run when you're out on these assignments, so don't try and be a smart ass. You will not live to see the fucking sun, am I clear?"

Eren nodded, gulping, but gave the man a hate filled glare. Another escape plan, down the drain.

"Good." Levi reached down and grabbed something from underneath his desk, pulling out what seemed to be a black trench coat and a variety of other clothes. "Everyone wears the trench coats out on missions, and I highly advise you do the same. If you don't, and a gun fight starts, you might get hit by your own team, and that would be a shitty ass day for you. They're impossible to cut with blades and knives, but a bullet can still take you down. " He pushed the clothes across the desk so that Eren could take them. It was a handful, but he somehow managed. 

"Hanji will run you through some medical tests, and then Ral will run you through some field exams so you don't die first day on the job. Sorry brat, but you're not going to live the high life here like you did with the 104's and be pampered like a fucking cat," he snorted. "You're gonna experience what it is that actually happens in this world you think you live in. I'm gonna make you experience what fear really is, you shit." Levi rose from his seat, ignoring Eren's utterly shocked face, to walk over to the window-wall behind him. From what Eren could see, they seemed to be in one of the tallest buildings in the city, but he was confused knowing that because of the garage he'd first stepped into upon arriving here. How was a garage that high above ground? He'd never heard of anything like that before. 

"Hmm..." Hanji suddenly cut in, staring at Eren so obviously that it made his skin crawl. This woman was really frickin' weird, he decided. "Hey Levi, maybe you should tell him exactly what you want him to start out doing so he knows what to prepare himself for. If you think I scared the shit out of him, his pants are going to be broken by the time he comes back from his first assignment. "

Levi glanced over his shoulder and grimaced at Hanji's joke, but seemed to agree with her when he said; "Drug trafficking." Like it was nothing.

Eren almost shit himself for the tenth time that day. 

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," he growled, sea green eyes darkening. "I don't know how to do that kind of thing!"

Levi glared right back. "No, I'm not you little shit. That's why I'm having Petra work with you. Did you not listen to a thing I just said? Well, sucks for you, because I hate repeating myself." He turned back to the window, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it while holding it between his lips. "You start tomorrow. You're room is between mine and Hanji's so we can keep an eye on you. It's already about one in the morning, so you better go and get some sleep. Everyone's up at seven or you don't get breakfast, plain and simple. You want food, get your ass out of bed. If not, you don't get to eat until dinner at the most." He turned and leaned his back against the glass, Eren watching as the moonlight reflected off of his pitch black hair, but darkened his face. "So don't be an idiot. Now go, I'm tired as fuck and I can't deal with you people anymore."

Eren was about to throw the clothes he was holding on the floor, march right over to that short little bastard and attempt to knock his teeth in, when Hanji stepped over to him and led him out the door of Levi's office. Petra gave Eren a small smile and wave as they passed her, but didn't leave the room with them. Eren's face fell in dismay. 

"Hey, don't look so depressed!" Hanji said as she turned and led him down one of the hallways on the balcony. There were five rooms, three on one side and two on the other. She lead him to the one at the very end, of course "It's going to be so much fun! Levi just makes it sound scary, but it's great doing all the stuff you're going to get to do soon. I'll even help you out!" She smiled.

Eren smiled back, glad that there were other people here who didn't want him tossed to the wolves like Levi apparently did. "Alright, thanks Hanji."

She paused at the door to Eren's room, her grip on his wrist not letting up, not even when he tried to pull it free. Hanji lifted up a finger to her mouth thoughtfully. "I should probably mention that you should call Levi, Corporal, or whatever else anyone else calls him. He has this thing with authority and respect, and you might lose a finger if you address him too formally."

Eren gave her a skeptical look. "Then why do you call him 'Levi'?"

She smiled mischievously. "Because there's nothing he can do to make me stop calling him that, and he knows it."

Eren chuckled with her, nodding his head. 

Hanji let go of him then, giving him a brutal slap on the back before she walked over to a separate door, the second one closest to his own room, and stepped inside. "Nighty-night Eren!" 

Eren sighed, holding his clothes as close to him as he could as he struggled to open the door. Of course, nothing was going his way that day, and the mass of clothes tumbled to the floor as he tried to open his bedroom door. He cursed under his breath, pushing open the door as he kicked all of his clothes inside, not caring where they landed and too lazy to pick them up. 

It was a small room, but it was comfortable. A queen sized bed lay against one wall, a dresser sitting next to it, and a small bedside table with a lamp on the side closest to the door. A small room for a toilet was in the corner, but it lacked a shower, or anything besides a toilet really. Eren growled in frustration, took a piss, and proceeded to flop down on his bed. He squirmed under the covers and let his head sink into the pillow. It was still an hour before he managed to even close his eyes though, terrifying thoughts running through his head, images of his sister standing in the street after him haunting his mind. 

_Mikasa, please, come save me,_ were his final thoughts before Eren drifted off into a restless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did that even make sense? Was there something I missed? Was it too fast paced? *my brain, guys, it burns* I wrote about half of this chapter just now, so i feel a little dead. I will be attempting to recover in the next few hours. If i never come back, please know I died happily watching anime.
> 
> I'd also like to say that i'll be responding to all comments you guys leave, so please leave some! I'd love to get to know my readers. So, there was that, AND I'm also willing to consider ideas you guys have for this fanfic, so if there's something you'd really like to happen, just let me know, and ill see what i can do ^^  
> Again thank you all for reading! Criticism is also acceptable, I'd like to improve as much as possible.


	3. Breathless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I told you, you little shit, don't fucking test me. I'm not someone you want to take on." He grimaced. "Especially not when you don't even know how to fucking fight properly."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im so sorry its taken me so long to post this! I've been so busy latley, its like life just decided to shit bricks on me. From now on, if i take longer than two months to post a new chapter, ill leave a comment to let you guys know I'm still alive ;A; But during the time I've been writing this chapter i finally finished reading 1994! It's a seriously good ff, and i really loved it. If you haven't read that one yet, I would highly recommend you do, its awesome. 
> 
> Anyways, thank you for those of you that have left comments and kudos! They've made me so happy, i can't even begin to explain. I will do my best to make this worth while, but I would also like to apologize for this chapter and how boring it is ;A; (I tried, but this is just what came out, Im sorry) Some of the tags did get changed/removed though too, and i'm expecting to add more a little later when I completely figure this story out xD The summary might also get changed soon because I really don't like it -_-
> 
> This chapter is a little all over the place, and sort of rushed at the end, but it was the base of what i wanted to happen, although I feel like the voice is off a tad. Ahh, i need to stop being so hard on myself, but I just can't help it T_T
> 
> I don't have a beta so if you see any mistakes, PLEASE let me know! Im also very open for criticism on any level as long as its respectful ^^ I'll probably be going back in to edit the grammar mistakes the next few days
> 
> And thank you for reading!!!!!

Two hours of sleep.

Two hours of sleep was all he got before the door to Eren's room was violently flung open and slammed against the wall. The sound of heavy footsteps echoed throughout the room as whoever had decided to barge in marched across the floor and over to the side of Eren's bed as Eren lay there. He held his breath, trying not to make a single sound, fearing that death himself had come to take him, and in his sleep no less. Fucking wonderful.

 _Shit, shit, shit, what do they want why are they in my room what's going on-_ Eren's thoughts were suddenly cut short as the mystery person leaned over, yanked down the bed sheets far enough that they fell off the bed entirely, grabbed Eren by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him off the bed almost effortlessly, a low threatening growl protruding from their throat. 

Eren's eyes flew open in fear, gasping as everything happened before he even got the chance to react. His eyes flashed up to his attackers, ready to defend himself but blinked in shock when he saw that the person that had so rudely interrupted his sleep was none other than Levi, glaring down at him with a fierce expression. "Fucking brat, get your ass out of bed. It's already seven, if you want food you better run your little ass downstairs before there's nothing left." He released his hold on Eren's shirt, throwing him back against the bed and turned to leave, a dark scowl the only readable emotion on his face. He was out of the room as quickly as he'd entered it. Eren had never been more confused and pissed off this early in the morning before this day. Something just about seeing the man himself was enough to make Eren slightly irritated, but he wasn't quite a hundred percent sure why.

"Whaa. . . ?" was all Eren managed to get out to voice his confusion, his voice thick from a restless night of sleep. He swung his legs over the side of his bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning like a little kid as he stretched out his sore limbs. He tried to make his movements as painfully slow as possible, if for nothing more than to irritate the shorter dark haired male, and he passed his own test with flying colors. 

Levi turned, giving Eren a harsh, irritated glare. "I said get up. Didn't I already tell you I hate repeating myself?" Levi's eyebrow twitched as he ended up doing just that, and Eren immediately thought it looked hilarious - hilarious and scary. He could practically see the swarming black cloud surrounding Levi's body, and in attempt to avoid a kick to the groin, if nothing else, Eren jumped out of his bed as fast as his body would allow, quickly managing tp sling on some pants on over his navy blue boxers as he bounded for the door. 

Levi leaned against the door frame, watching Eren with little to no emotion as he hurriedly tried to make himself appear somewhat presentable. His arms were folded against the black dress shirt he was wearing, and a pair of tight white jeans fitting snugly against his toned thighs and noticeably defining his hips as he waited. Black boots, similar to the ones Eren was trying to shove on his feet, completed his look, Eren taking it all in in a matter of seconds. Although he hadn't noticed until just now, Levi also had a thin pair of black gauges adorning his ears, with the addition of two small, silver rings hanging on his left. 

When Levi lightly snorted as he watched Eren put his clothes on, Eren glanced from Levi's black and white dress style for the day, down to his own pair of skinny jeans and the tight fitting shirt he had worn yesterday, suddenly feeling very under-dressed standing next to the man who obviously had a wonderful sense of fashion. A small part of Eren's confidence was shot down as he noticed that this was actually very true, he was indeed under-dressed, but he did little more than lazily rake his fingers through the light brown tussles of his hair in attempt to tame it as he strolled past Levi and out into the hallway. The man rolled his eyes as Eren passed.

"Finally," he mumbled, following Eren down the hall a ways before the boy in front of him suddenly stopped, turning around and giving him an exhausted, blank look as they reached the opening to the balcony. 

"I don't know where I'm going." And he shouldn't, he decided. He'd only been at this place for a matter of hours, not even a full day yet, so it was completely understandable to not know where the hell anything was. Besides, he'd be getting the grand tour eventually. Might as well start with the fucking cafeteria. 

Sighing, Levi brushed past Eren and turned to walk down the stairs. "This way kid."

A vein poked through the skin on Eren's forehead, anger bubbling up inside of him upon hearing Levi. He followed the dark haired man down the stairs with fists clenched. He knew that there had been something about the man that had managed to piss Eren off to no end the day before, he just hadn't been trying to figure out what it was under the circumstances he'd been under at the time. But now that there was nothing immediately eating up Eren's time and attention, he growled at the person that had dared to insult him.

"I'm not a kid."

Levi turned and gave Eren a look, raising a slender brow in mild amusement. "No? Could've fooled me," he scoffed, reaching the bottom of the stairs and turned into the hallway closest to them with complete confidence.

"I'm not a kid," Eren insisted with a hiss. "I'm nineteen." 

Levi just snorted. "You're barely a legal adult, brat. Just because you're old enough to ride the big kid rides without your mom holding your hand the entire time doesn't mean you're not still a damn teenager." 

The sudden dark, threatening look that Eren shot Levi went unnoticed, but neither of them said anything after that statement. If the older man _had_ noticed, he had either ignored it or he didn't give enough shits to actually care. That only made Eren angrier.

Eren's thought's faded as Levi lead him into a large open room, and judging from the amount of people and food that he saw, Eren figured it couldn't be anything other than the cafeteria. Half of the people were wearing the signature black trench coats that represented the gang, while others looked strangely a lot like Eren, as if they'd just rolled out of bed themselves, bed head and all. 

As soon as Levi entered, the whole room went quiet as heads turned to acknowledge their leaders' arrival. The ones wearing the trench coats rose from their seats or paused in their walking to give a respectful salute. The remaining members who didn't have their uniforms on stayed seated, but instead reached up to place a hand on their heart with a closed fist. 

Eren thought it was strange, but it reminded him of the time when he had first met Levi in the alley way, how he'd easily been able to gain the respect and fear of Auruo just from being there in person. Again, Eren found himself wondering just who Levi truly was, why he was able to command an entire force with nothing more then the wave of his hand. 

The men and women standing continued on their way, everyone else returning to their meals after Levi gave a signal to continue, and although it was slight, Eren caught the satisfied gleam in his eyes. 

Levi lead Eren over to what appeared to be a large, buffet style cart. Eren's mouth watered upon seeing all the food that sat open before him, and it ripped an embarrassing sound from his stomach. A faint blush spread out over Eren's cheeks as Levi silently raised an eyebrow. "You're lucky, seems as though there's still something left for you to eat. If we'd been any later than we already were, there'd be next to nothing left, and I'd blame you and your damn laziness if I didn't get to eat anything for fucking breakfast."

Eren had already reached over and grabbed one of the remaining plates beside the cart, staring hungrily at all the delicious food, but blinked in confusion as he glanced at Levi. "You haven't eaten yet?" he asked, somewhat shocked. When he'd been living with his sister before he'd been taken, Mikasa had always been the one to get her food first, no matter when she decided to wake up. It was like letting an omega wolf eat before its alpha. If you eat before the alpha, you just ceased to exist. 

Eren was met with an irritated glare. "Isn't that what I _just_ fucking said, you little shit? No, I haven't eaten yet because I went to get your sorry ass out of bed so I wouldn't have to hear you whine all day," he growled, moving behind Eren to grab a plate of his own." You're fucking welcome, by the way," he said, waiting for Eren to move down so that he could begin dishing some food for himself. When Eren didn't move down or reach over to pick out anything to eat, Levi sighed in frustration. 

Believe him, Eren desperately wanted to reach out and grab as much food as his plate could hold, but he was starting to feel very. . . intrusive. He felt as though he needed to ask for what he wanted to take, just to make sure it was okay if he took what he did. It was that, and the fact that everyone in the cafeteria was staring at him. Everyone, including Levi. It made him itch all over, and the impending silence wasn't doing much to calm his nerves either. 

"If you don't move in the next five seconds, I'm pushing you out of the way. I'm hungry as shit, and for you to have the nerve to stand there and do nothing is really starting to piss me off. Pick what you want, or get the hell away from the food."

He gave Levi a sheepish half-smile, although he was still frustrated with him, scratching the back of his neck in hopes that it would get rid of the odd feeling of everyone watching him. "What am I allowed to have?"

Levi just stared along with the rest, looking as though he was trying to figure out if Eren was being serious or not. When he figured that indeed, Eren was being serious, he spoke slowly, giving the boy an odd look. 

"Jaeger, you can have anything you want that's here. You see that? It's food. You eat food in order to live. So take some life medicine and get the fuck out of my way before I end up punching you in the face. My stomach is going to shrivel up and die at this rate."

Eren rolled his eyes, but reached out and picked out a cheese omelet, some ham, and a couple pieces of bread as his first round. He heard Levi grunt in approval when he finally started taking food, he himself bending over to grab the same thing Eren had, but minus the meat. 

Everyone was still staring. No one was even eating anymore.

Eren felt smaller than he had in a very long time.

He didn't really like that.

After Levi had picked out a bag of tea he intended to make for himself, he directed Eren over to a table that was separated away from the rest and plopped his plate down in front of one of the available seats, Eren doing the same if not a little more hesitantly. He still felt like he was intruding in a way he wasn't fully aware of. 

Hanji and Petra, along with Gunther and a blonde man Eren hadn't seen before were already seated, each giving the couple an amused stare. Levi glanced from one face to another before his lips turned down into a frown, a 'tsk' sound pushing past his lips as he took his cup and tea bag and walked away to find himself some hot water. 

Eren watched in confusion, turning and giving the people at his table a questioning look. Hanji was oddly staring after Levi with a wide smile on her face, so Petra had to be the one to motion for Eren to sit down and join the group, offering him a kind smile that he returned in full. That earned him a few shocked gazes, but Petra's face burst with happiness, and it gave him enough confidence to sit down in the seat he had chosen, hungrily digging into his meal. 

Slowly, the cafeteria seemed to gravitate back to its original atmosphere, and the sound of people eating and talking again finally reached Eren's ears, calming his nerves. That had possibly been one of the most awkward situations he'd ever been in, and he didn't want to ever experience it again. He let out a deep sigh if relief. 

"I'm sorry about that Eren, that must've been weird for you," Petra said, voicing Eren's thoughts. 

He nodded, managing to speak around a mouth full of toast. "Yeah. What was that all about anyways?"

She just shrugged. "Most of the members heard that the brother of the 104's leader was brought in late last night, and I suppose that most people were just shocked to see it was actually true, " she said, but a nervous gleam in her eye told Eren she wasn't telling him the whole story. 

"Is that it?" he pressed, swallowing. 

She hesitated before answering. "I think they were also pretty shocked to see Corporal come down with you this morning. He always comes down alone, and he always goes to get food when almost all the other members are done eating or have left already. It was just. . . different, I suppose."

"He's protecting Eren, that's what he's doing," Gunther suddenly spoke up. "I heard some of the other members talking earlier, making threats to kill Eren once they heard he was here. Corporal is taking measures to keep Eren safe, and since Hanji was already down here, he had to be the one to take the necessary precautions for Eren's safety." 

Petra blinked in realization. "I guess that does make sense," she said, watching as Levi started making his way back to the table, a steaming cup of tea in hand. She was the only one who noticed him, but she knew that would be changing soon. She tried to hide her smile by plopping a piece of fruit in her mouth.

Eren turned to Hanji when she made a sour face. "Oh shoot, I _was_ supposed to bring Eren down with me! I totally forgot!" She sighed and then shrugged. "Oh well, I was about ready to eat a cow, so I guess it's a good thing Levi took care of it. "

"Damn good thing I did to," a sudden voice behind Eren spoke, causing him to swallow his food wrong, and he coughed roughly, pounding his chest a few times before he was able to finally breath again. Levi frowned, but his steel blue-grey eyes betrayed him as he raised an eyebrow in amusement. "You okay, Jaeger? Can't have you dying on us now, after all we went through just to get you here. I'll be damned if I let the omelet be the end of you."

Eren looked behind him to meet Levi's bored expression as he watched Eren through half-lidded eyes, shocked that the male had actually attempted to make a joke. He just seemed so. . . uptight and serious. It was hard to imagine that he actually had a sense of humor. Although he was still a little surprised, just like everyone else at the the able besides Hanji, Eren smiled up at Levi, laughing a little. "I'm fine, Corporal. You just surprised me, is all," he admitted, chuckling to himself, unaware of the narrowed gaze on the back of his head. Levi rolled his eyes and moved into the seat next to Eren, placing his cup down to open his napkin and begin cutting up his own omelet into delicate squares.

The rest of the people at the table were busy giving tips to Eren about were to go when breakfast rolled around again, and then dinner later in the day. Levi had no idea how they'd gotten onto a topic like that, but he figured it was important enough to worth being mentioned. 

"- and you can just come sit here with us from now on, since Levi himself brought you over here," Petra smiled, picking at the remaining pieces of fruit on her plate, moving them around aimlessly with her fork with a pensive look on her face. 

Eren blinked. "Really? But this table looks like it's for important members. . . I don't want to intrude, " He mumbled, which earned him a loud laugh from Hanji and a couple chuckles from the rest. Eren gave his best attempt to smile politely, but it felt forced. And it was. All of this was. The majority of Eren's 'good' mood this morning was just a mask. He had forced himself to put up a mask that he didn't have any intention of taking off, at least not anytime soon. Even though people like Hanji and Gunther and Petra did their best to make him feel included and at ease, only one thought still occupied his mind: Get the hell out of here. He didn't care how he had to do it, he just knew he needed to leave this scene as soon as he could possibly manage. The sound of loud, almost terrifying laughs yanked Eren back to the people sitting in front of him, and he had to force himself to keep the small smile on his face although it was making him uncomfortable. 

A pair of eyes narrowed.

"Eren," Hanji managed between wheezing laughs. "Trust me when I say that you are important. Important enough that you need to be watched by one of us at all times. Some of the other members here aren't too fond of your presence, like Gunther was saying earlier. Death threats have been made, and we have no intention of having you end up dead, inside here or outside in the big world." Somewhere in between the laughs and serious words, Hanji had calmed herself down and was now eyeing Eren intently. Eren quickly found that a serious Hanji was just a little, if not a lot more frightening than an overly-enthusiastic one. 

Eren frowned. He didn't like the sound of people wanting him dead (who the fuck did?) and it made him shiver. Especially in a gang as powerful as Levi's. It made him more nervous than he was willing to admit. 

The sudden sound of clanking silverware made Eren flinch, and he turned to see that Levi had finished his meal and was now eyeing Eren with a very dark expression. 

"Jaeger."

Eren blinked. "Yes, Le-. Corporal,"

Levi leaned forwards, his face only inches from Eren's, the harsh expression causing a shadow to fall over the others face. "Come to my office after breakfast. I believe there is something I need to make sure we're clear on," he said, his voice hushed, but authoritative. With that, Levi simply picked up his plate and stood, not caring to give anyone even a small glance as he turned and made to leave the cafeteria. The last thing that Eren saw of him was his dark black boots and the man reaching into his pocket to pull out a cigarette. Only then did Eren let his exterior expression fall, and he shot daggers in the direction that the shorter male had disappeared. What could he possibly want to talk to him about? Had he done something wrong? Had be broken a rule? His eyes widened when he started to think about if Levi had seen through the facade he'd put up. He knew he wasn't necessarily the best person to mask what he was truly feeling, so it was highly possible. Eren heard himself swear under his breath.

"Eren, you okay?" Hanji asked, a slightly amused expression on her face upon hearing Eren's foul mouth. 

Eren turned to the dark haired woman, forcing the smile back. "Yeah, sorry. I just don't really get what the Corporal wants to talk to me about." He paused. "Did I do something. . .?" He tried, wondering if he could figure out an answer before he had to head up to the large office and face the short (attractive) bastard. 

He was met with blank gazes from everyone. Eren immediately knew from those looks that he'd said something incredibly stupid. 

"Eren," Petra spoke up hesitantly, meeting Eren's gaze. "You do know that you're new here still, right? It's not really that odd for Corporal to want to run you somethings again before he hands you over to Hanji and I later today."

He had totally said something stupid. He nodded in sheepish agreement, but couldn't help but feel that Levi had been referring to something that Petra didn't quite see. 

Deciding he might as well just get it over with instead of stressing over it, Eren gathered his plate and pushed his chair back as he got up to leave as well. As soon as he turned away from his group of potential friends he had no intentions of actually becoming friends with, he dumped his dishes in the same place that everyone else was as members of the gang started to leave for their duties. 

Just like before, as soon as Eren strayed anywhere near any one of the members, they stopped walking and closed their mouths as they watched him in silence. If this kept up, Eren knew he'd never be able to relax around here. Maybe he'd have to buy some maze or something later, in case one of them got any funny ideas. He'd make sure they thought their idea was so funny that they'd cry tears of wonderful, painful, agony. 

Without sparing anyone a look, Eren turned and left the way he'd come, not really minding when he saw Gunther following him. If anything, it made him relax a little, even though the man had been pointing a gun at his best friend only about nine hours before. Still, the larger man's presence made him feel a little better as he was silently escorted to the steel doors of Levi's office.

"I'll wait out here," Gunther said, and Eren shrugged. It didn't matter to him whether or not he came in or stayed out, it made no difference to him. Eren was unhappy with the entire situation, Gunther's presence wasn't going to change that. 

Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Eren grabbed the handle to enter, but thought about what Petra had done when she'd first brought him here, and he groaned.

_God, this is so stupid._

He knocked on the door twice, rolling his eyes as he said ". . . Eren Jaeger, sir."

A few moments passed before Eren heard the confirmation of, "Enter," lightly pass through the door, and Eren opened the large double doors and stepped inside. The doors clicked behind him. 

He already wanted out.

Levi was leaning on the front of his desk, a smoke hanging loosely from his mouth as he held several papers in one hand, studying them. As soon as Eren entered his office, his narrowed eyes snapped up to meet Eren's stiff frame, smirking a little when he realized that the kid was nervous. That was good. 

"Um. . . " Eren muttered, not quite sure what to do with himself. Looking at Levi, the way that he stared at Eren with faint amusement glittering in his eyes, manged to successfully irritate him, and he steeled himself for a moment of confidence. "You said you wanted something?" he asked, a hint of anger and annoyance slipping through. Levi's amused gaze disappeared and was replaced with his own amount of irritation.

"Watch it, brat. Don't get smart with me. I only promised you I wouldn't kill you unless you tried to make a run for it, I can't promise anything past that," he growled, reaching behind him and placing the papers he'd been holding back on his desk, watching as Eren's face faltered slightly but it was only a moment of surprise. It took about five whole seconds for him to snap back.

"And I can promise you that I'll make sure it's not easy, whatever you plan to do to me. I'll fight you every step of the w-"

Eren let out a harsh gasp as his back suddenly hit the floor and a large weight slammed down on his chest, sucking all the air from his lungs. 

"I told you, you little shit, don't fucking test me. I'm not someone you want to take on." He grimaced. "Especially not when you don't even know how to fucking fight properly."

Eren choked for another moment, trying to take in gulps of air, but it was more difficult than it should have been. He glared up into Levi's passive face, placing his hands around the foot that had been slammed down in the middle of his chest. Levi's hands hung at his sides, his cigarette clenched between his teeth as he met Eren's gaze and dug his boot in harder and twisted the skin underneath Eren's shirt. Eren let out a little hiss of pain, but didn't tear his gaze away from the others'. Levi smirked darkly down at Eren. "You want me to get off you now, brat?"

He nodded. 

"Too bad."

With one step, Levi was standing completely on top of Eren, his hands in the pockets of his white jeans as he watched the boy underneath him gasp with the effort to breath. Eren coughed, his chest heaving under the unbelievable amount of weight that belonged to a certain someone. He tried to throw Levi off by turning his body and rolling onto his side, but the older man stopped the movement by picking up one of his boot-clad feet and placed it over Eren's dick, pressing down forcefully enough that Eren cried out in pain. Eren didn't even try to shoot Levi defiant looks anymore, all he cared about was the need to fill his lungs with precious, life granting air. His eyes widened when he was denied that luxury. 

_Breathe, breathe, breathe! Eren, fucking breathe, dammit!_ His mind screamed at him, but Eren was slowly slipping into a state that he couldn't really understand what his own head was trying to tell him. Well fuck. He was going to die. Because someone fucking stepped on him. Wonderful, just flipping wonderful. Let's just go out with a bang. . . Eren's vision suddenly started to fade, and he could suddenly no longer remember what he'd just been thinking. It was too much work. Too much effort. Effort he didn't want to waste.

But suddenly, the weight lifted off of his chest, and air was sucked back into his lungs with a loud gasp. He coughed once more, turning over and propping himself up on his elbows as he desperately sucked in as much air as his body would allow. Just when he thought that he'd be able to relax, a familiar feeling slammed into the spot between Eren's shoulder blades and was pinned to the floor on his stomach. He could breathe, but the undersides of Levi's combat boots were jagged, and quite simply, painful. A whimper threatened to escape Eren's lips, but he held it in, biting his lip, not wanting to give Levi the satisfaction that he knew he was still hurting him. So instead, he turned his head as far to the side as humanly possible, and stared at the man. 

Levi's eyes were dangerous. They flashed over to meet Eren's desperate look, the visible amount of mixed emotions swarming in the steel blue depths making him look scarier than usual. It was impossible to tell what he would do at this point. But the last thing that Eren had expected was for Levi to bend down, grab his hair, yank it back and say, "You're even weaker than I first thought. All I did was fucking stand on you, brat. I'm not even as heavy as half the people here," he scoffed, yanking Eren's head back even further until he let out a small cry. "I could have stood on anyone and they wouldn't have even flinched. That's how weak you are. Know why?" 

Eren let out the whimper he'd been holding in, throwing his pride out the window just in hopes of not having to endure any more pain. No such luck. Levi reached out and yanked one of Eren's hands behind his back, twisting it up until Eren cried out a second time. "I know. Because you sat back, thinking that you where fucking invincible, sitting up in your little room filled with luxuries and selfish interests. You didn't work, or help your gang, in any way. For fucks sake, I was told that you didn't even get off your lazy ass to clean your own damn room," he spat, disgusted. "No wonder you can't take my weight, you're probably not even strong enough to lift a fucking duster. But guess what, Jaeger? I'm strong enough that I can sit right here and snap your pathetic little neck. Wanna know why? Because I didn't get the luxury to sit back like a coward and let people do things for me. I had to learn to fight for and take care of myself, because there wasn't anyone there who gave a damn about where I ended up. I had to learn to _survive_." Levi released his hold on Eren, letting his head drop harshly to the floor as he stood up and reached up to remove his cigarette as he exhaled. "And now, you get to learn too." He snorted. "So much for 'not easy', huh Eren?"

Eren panted on the floor, not daring to move, or even blink for that matter. He was scared of breaking eye contact even. The only thing he dared was a nod of understanding.

"Tch. Get up."

He didn't bother to hesitate, but when he tried to stand and put pressure on his arm that Levi had twisted behind his back, pain shot up into Eren's shoulder and he gasped. Wincing, Eren was forced to stand by crouching on his knees and heave himself up that way. When he was finally on his feet, he turned to face Levi, who was standing with his arms crossed, an uninterested look in his eyes. Eren wanted to look away, he really did, but he couldn't. Something about the steely depths held him in place and he was unable to do what he desperately commanded his body to do. Again. 

The two held each others gazes for a few moments. The silence that stretched on was only broken when Levi finally spoke, all traces of his previous anger gone. "This isn't what I brought you here for. But I suppose I didn't hurt to add." 

Eren glared at him. Like shit it hadn't hurt. 

Levi ignored him and walked over and around his desk, gracefully sliding into his chair as he sifted through the few papers that weren't in small, neat piles. "I know what you're doing, Jaeger."

Eren watched Levi with mild curiosity up until the words left the shorter man's mouth. Eren froze. Levi's eyes flicked up, and he smirked in triumph. Eren cursed to himself, but pretended to act like he didn't understand. 

"I don't know what you're talking about, Corporal." 

Levi's smirk faded and was replaced with a thin line. "I see right through you. Don't think you're fooling anyone. I see the little show you put on to suck up to everyone." Levi leaned forward to thread his fingers together and place his chin on top of his knuckles. "Too bad I know exactly what you're trying to do."

Eren broke eye contact and looked away. "I'm not trying to do anything but to try to get to know people, sir."

"Bullshit. You're trying to get in good with them so you think they might be able to help you figure out a way out of here? Tough Luck Jaeger, because no one's going to give you what you want, no matter what you throw at them. All members are under orders not to tell you anything that could benefit you, or anyone outside, for example, Mikasa and her little entourage. And they all know what'll happen if they disobey my orders," Levi growled, reaching over his desk to pick up something behind a pile of papers that obscured Eren's view. When Levi pulled back, a dark black flick-knife sat menacingly in his pale hands. Eren had to mentally force himself not to react. It was exactly what the other man wanted. 

"So now you get the picture. Stop fucking around, because despite your best attempts, you're not going anywhere Jaeger." Levi's eyes narrowed, and Eren flinched as his eyes ignited with the mix raging emotions.

Eren sighed in defeat. All his plans were being ripped from his mind, one after the other, Levi continually throwing them up against the wall and (figuratively) shooting a bullet through all of them. He'd squashed all of his escape plans almost the exact moment he came up with them. Fuck.

"Now get out. Hanji will be crawling up here any moment to yank you from where-ever you try and hide and drag you down to her creepy ass lab, if that's what you wanna call it, and I don't want her in here rubbing her disgusting hands all over my things." Levi rose from his chair, flipping his hair in an attempt to get his bangs out of his eyes, but they fell right back to the exact same spot. He didn't really seem to notice, or even really care for that matter. Eren watched in idle curiosity as Levi reached behind him to grab a dark, long black coat that Eren soon realized resembled the one he'd been given only yesterday. He hadn't had much time to pay much attention to it though. He hadn't even known what to do with it, to be honest. The floor was a nice place for it at the moment. 

Levi briskly slipped the coat onto his shoulders, hardly sparing Eren a glance as he reached in to one of his desk drawers and pulled out two black hand guns, checking to make sure they were both fully loaded before slipping them under his coat. He reached back in once more to pull out a pair of black leather gloves, and slipped them onto his slender hands until the ends of them were hidden underneath the sleeves of the trench coat. "I, on the other hand, am leaving. So seriously, get out," he growled, slamming the drawer closed and made his way over to the door. Eren followed without thinking walking briskly after the shorter man, but paused when Levi opened the door and waited for Eren to remove himself from his office. Levi's brows pulled together. "What?"

""Levi, sir," he started in a whisper, clenching his fists as he steeled his resolve, taking a deep breath through his nose. He blinked upwards, trying to give as much strength to his words as he could. "Why am I here? Why did you want me?"

Levi stared at him unblinkingly, making it impossible for Eren to look away. Even though he knew Levi wouldn't be very happy about his asking, he needed to know. He had a right to know. He'd basically been dragged here against his will, forced into making a decision that had no positive benefits for him either way, and told he was unable to leave. Grade A kidnapping, right there. Sure, he was treated (mostly) like everyone else, but there was more to this situation that Eren just simply didn't understand. Why him? How had Levi and Auruo known who he was? Why did they want him in the first place? Why wasn't he allowed to leave, or even get a few minutes of fresh air without being watched like he was about to throw himself at someone any second? And again, _why him?_ He needed answers. He needed to at least know why Levi was so persistently making it impossible for him to escape. 

Eren blinked, waiting for an answer, but Levi simply continued to stare without saying anything. His face was emotionless, besides the critical look that lingered in his eyes, but gave nothing else away. Eren was about to ask him again, his anger starting to take over when Levi finally opened his thin lips and said. "Something for another time, Jaeger. Now get the fuck out of my office, I can practically smell Hanji's excitement to finally get her hands on you. And I'm not letting her in here. So you better move now, because she's right over there."

Eren had never jumped out of a room so fast in his life. And he had never been dragged down a flight of stairs so fast to the point that even when he tripped, his face never hit the floor. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A brief flash of pain caused Eren to flinch as the needle dove into his arm. Hanji pulled the tube back, a small amount of the boys blood pooling into it. Once she was sure that she'd have enough to run the proper amount of tests, she pulled the needle back and handed Eren a band-aid as a small drop of blood oozed out onto the surface of his skin. He took it and ripped the wrapper open with his teeth since the arm that Hanji had poked was feeling a little numb, and placed the bandage over the tiny wound. 

Hanji's "lab" was a very . . . _interesting_ place. Test tubes and beakers filled the counter tops, and strange and very thick books lined the shelves near the door. Something similar to an island was in the middle of the room, but computers and expensive looking equipment left hardly any remaining space for even a rumpled up Kleenex. On the far side of the lab there was a wall covered in tools. Some had large and very long needles and Eren tried not to pay too much attention to them. Even though Hanji had just taken a large sample of his blood, he was no fonder of needles then the next person. Other tools resembled ropes, tubes, and even blunt hammers. His eyes widened when he realized that not only did Hanji carry out the medical stuff for the gang, she also seemed to be the one that supplied the torture tools. Eren visibly gulped the moment Hanji turned back to face him.

She let out a little peal of laughter, shaking her head as she slipped on one of those weird things, on his undamaged arm, that when you squeezed the little ball at the end of the cord, the fabric around his arm would grow tighter. He had no idea what it was called, but he'd always thought it was sort of fun to do. "Don't worry about those. They're not for you, I promise," she smiled, and Eren relaxed in the chair he'd been offered upon first being dragged in here. 

Removing the equipment from Eren's arm, Hanji turned around and grabbed the pen from behind her ear to jot down some notes on the opposite counter, in the one place that wasn't occupied in the entire room. 

Eren watched as the woman raced around the room, performing test after test to make sure that he was fit and healthy. Once she was finally convinced that he was in the green, she folded up a piece of paper and slipped it into her lab coat, adjusting the glasses perched on her nose as she smiled at the young man siting in her lab. "You're all set, Eren! Just go find Petra when you're ready and tell her that I said you're fine to get to work-"

"Hanji," Eren interrupted suddenly, giving her a pleading glance. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about what had happened with Levi only moment before Hanji had shown up to drag him down here. He really needed answers. He had a right to know. And hopefully, she would be willing to help him find what he was looking for. "I was just wondering if you knew why I'm here-"

"Sorry kiddo, can't help you there," she said, shooting him an apologetic look. "Levi told everyone to say nothing until he's ready to tell you himself. But I'll tell you one thing," she paused, almost looking like she was waiting for some random dramatic effect. "It's not something that's going to make you happy when you hear it."

 _No shit_ , he thought. He was just waiting for the moment he could do cartwheels in a field filled with bunnies and magical flowers when he figured out exactly why he was here. It was going to make him so fucking happy, he wouldn't be able to contain it. Yeah, right. 

"'I know, I just-"

"I really am sorry Eren, but I can't help you. Ask Levi if you wanna know. He's the only one who will give you the answer you're looking for."

He sighed. Levi had left around half an hour ago with the blonde haired man he'd sat with at breakfast, and some random woman he'd never seen before. All of them where dressed in the black trench coats with the slit up half the back of it, all setting out with hard faces. Whatever business Levi had had to deal with, it didn't look like he was going to enjoy it. Then again, he didn't look like he really enjoyed anything. Eren didn't even know when they were all coming back, and he knew that some outings could last, at least two days. Then again, Levi was the leader of this gang. He couldn't be gone too long, or someone might try to rise up and take his place. For some reason, the man that had tried to kidnap him in the alley way came to mind. 

"Hey Hanji, who's Auruo? I haven't even seen him since yesterday evening. DId he go out?"

Hanji turned and gave him a curious look, but decided it was a safe question to answer. "Auruo's a member here again now, but he recently got outed by Levi just a day or two ago when he found out that Auruo had stolen some of his plans containing several of the routes we work, and sold it off to an information broker. Levi was able to get the plans back, but there's no doubt that they probably took a picture of it in order to still sell the info. Other gangs will jump on the chance to get that sort of information, if they can afford it of course." She shrugged before continuing. "Auruo tried to apologize, but Levi wasn't having it and tossed him to the curb. Gunther went with him just so the idiot wouldn't end up doing something stupid, but that's sort of impossible. On top of that, he tries to act like Levi." She shrugged again, walking over to one of her computers and slid a card up to a certain device Eren had seen before. The screen blinked to life, and Hanji started to rapidly type something into a specialized page that was unrecognizable. "That's all really. You should really be going now, Petra needs to work with you the rest of the day and you-" 

The sound of humming against the countertop made her pause, and both she and Eren glanced over to see that an incoming call from Levi. She frowned, then glanced at a nearby clock. "It's only been forty-five minutes. . . " She answered the call on the sixth ring, holding it up to her ear. "Yep, Hanji here."

Eren watched in silence as her face changed from relaxed, to very upset in a matter of seconds. She didn't seem angry, but worried. Very worried. He could do no more than sit back and listen to what Hanji said since it was impossible to make out what Levi was telling her on the other end of the line. All he was able to piece together was that something very bad looked to have happened, and he didn't have the slightest idea of what it could be.

"Alright," Hanji suddenly interrupted his thoughts, reaching into her lab pocket and pulling out a thick and unfamiliar device and began to tap the multitude of buttons on its surface. "I've got the security on high, and the entrance door is open-" a loud bang sounded from the other side. "Hurry up, Levi! Get your ass in the car!" She screamed, a little twinge of panic evident in her large eyes, her jaw open slightly in worry. She listened as Levi yelled something from the other side, and she snapped back with, "I don't care if you want to kill the stupid idiot, he's got a death wish as it is! Levi just-!" She was cut off again, and this time Eren could tell that the phone had been dropped from Levi's hand at the clattering sound that echoed on the other end. 

"Levi!" Hanji tried, racing over to the far wall and pressed a key into a box beside the door. A latch flipped open and she pressed a bright yellow button in the top left corner, focus evident on her face as she held up a mic to her mouth while still holding the phone. "This Squad Leader Hanji. All available members, ready yourself outside to building to prepare for enemy fire if necessary. Levi's team has been hit and have sustained heavy casualties. Be ready to protect the car approaching the building any minute."

Eren's mouth fell open. This was so much more serious then he could have ever guessed. Someone from Levi's team was either dead or seriously injured, and now that Levi was unable to answer his phone, it was impossible to determine whether he had been injured or not as well. And on top of that, it was clear from Hanji's words earlier that she wasn't even sure if he'd made it to the car yet. 

Still holding the phone to her ear, Hanji glanced to Eren and opened the door to her lab as she made to leave. "Follow me." Was all she said before she left, and Eren jumped from his chair to bound after her. He followed her up the flight of stairs they'd taken to get down there, and then moved up into a hallway that stretched and opened up into the upper level of the large room with the balcony. Hanji and Eren were met with dozens of Freedom members running around, loading guns, exchanging weapons, ready to defend their leader if necessary. But only a select few stayed in the room with them, the others disappearing into one of the hallways on the lower level once they were set. Petra and Gunther were stationed by the door Eren had come in through last night, and he and Hanji glanced down to them from above. Petra gave a signal of acknowledgement as she and Gunther stepped away from the door and took out their guns to point them at the door, Petra with her two and Gunther with one. 

It was so much to keep up with, and in truth Eren was scared and slightly confused. He wasn't sure what to do, and he felt useless just standing there as Hanji tried to repeatedly get Levi to pickup his phone and answer her. It was no use. No one replied. She cursed in frustration before pausing as her brow furrowed. Eren glanced over to her the moment "Levi?" left her lips.

Something that sounded like a gruff confirmation could be heard, and Hanji let out an audible sigh of relief. She narrowed her eyes as he continued speaking, nodding silently next to Eren as they looked over the balcony together. 

Most everyone was gone now, but Eren could heard something similar to a gun shot going off, and after that it sounded like a never ending hail storm outside. He could do little more than stand there and listen. 

In the amount of time he'd been here, he'd already experienced more then what usually happened back in Shiganshina. It was unnerving to say the least. He wasn't sure how he'd be able to go out and go on raids and run drug routes, maybe even kill someone; while he enjoyed watching it, he had no interest in being a part of it. It was simply how he was. A coward, he thought bitterly, biting on his tongue to stop himself from cursing at himself. 

Hanji flipped the phone closed had stuffed it in her pocket, staring straight at the door with a grim expression. Eren figured it was better not to ask her what Levi had told her. He could already make a pretty good guess. 

"He'll be in shortly going by the sound from outside. He's fine, Eld's fine, but the woman that went with them is seriously hurt. Bullets in her legs and one in her shoulder," she said, watching the door Petra and Gunther were guarding. They were the only ones left in the room.

Several minutes passed by with growing tension, and although Eren had thought he'd hated the dark haired man, he couldn't help but feel worried for Levi. There was still so much he needed to know, and he needed answers and-

His thoughts disappeared the moment the light on the small device near the door blinked green, and the heavy metal door was pushed open.

Oh yes, Eren needed answers. He needed them right now. Because he wanted to know why the blonde man named Eld had blood splatter up the side of his face, why he was helping to carry the wounded woman inside with a dazed look that almost made him seem lifeless. And why, of all things, Levi walked in behind them. 

Walked in behind them with blood covering his torso, his hands, his arms. Why he had no wounds. Why there was so much blood. 

And why he was looking at Eren with the most meaningful gaze anyone had ever given him. 

Levi's eyes were blank as he met the young boys eyes. Eren could see blood splatter across his cheeks as well, and it was the most terrifying thing Eren deducted he had ever seen. 

Levi looked like he had seen hell and come back to relive his memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sorry if the thing with Levi was weird at all ;A;
> 
> Alright so its been a little slow going in the relationship so far, but that will start to change a little next chapter, I swear. (We will get there!) And I will have a nice surprise in the next few chapters for everyone, if everything goes to plan. Maybe in chpt 6,7, or 8? We'll just have to see I guess ;)
> 
> Again thank you for reading! ^^


	4. Stranger on this Planet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry! I haven't posted for this story in a while and I'm so sorry for those of you who waited for this chapter to come out! I've been looking a for a job lately, so I haven't had all that much time. I do have a job now though! If we can all be patient for a month or two more, chapters will come much quicker since I should have enough for my own computer by then. ^^ Yay!
> 
> I have also been lacking ideas and motivation for this story, which is also why I havent updated, unlike my other fic My Demon's Fate, were I know how it'll end and everything, unlike this story. 
> 
> Well, anyway, hope this chapter is good! I'm too lazy to go back and edit, so if you see any mistakes please let me know and I'll fix them. 
> 
> I also have a tumblr now! My blog name is ererihastakenmysoul , so come drop by and let me know what you think of Underground! (or Demons Fate, whichever xD) I'd love to hear what you guys think! I also reblog Riren/Ereri pics, just so you guys know ^^
> 
> Luv you all! Thanks for reading!

The next few hours flew by without Eren even really realizing. It was like everything had blurred together, and time was just something he didn't have the, well, time to keep track of.

As soon as Levi and his team made it back inside, Hanji had raced down the stairs to exchange a few words with Levi and take the half conscious girl from Eld, examining her wounds before ordering Gunther to help her carry the girl to her lab right after his gun was stashed safely underneath his coat. Petra had ran to Eld, taking his arm and giving him comforting words, trying to offer to help him clean up the blood on his face and clothes, to which he barley agreed. He still seemed a little out of it, but he seemed to be in the process of recovering.

 _He's strong,_ Eren noted. He knew that if he had seen what Eld had, there would be no way he would be able to act as calm as the older man was at this very moment. He'd more than likely be in hysterics or crying. Whatever had happened out there, it had been bad. He didn't need proof to see that. It was obvious from the amount blood and blank faces. Nothing more needed to be said.

Eren watched as Levi broke away from the rest of the group after his quick discussion with Hanji, his usual stride aiming for the stairs. Blood dripped down his clothes and fingers, leaving a deep red trail of blood in his wake.

Plip.

Plip.

Plip.

Each little plink of blood that hit the floor echoed in Eren's head, watching with wide eyes as Levi started up the stairs. A small trail of blood followed his every move, and Eren could do nothing but watch as the shorter man continued up towards him. It was hard to see his face from this distance, so he was unable to tell what could have possibly been running through his head. Eren wasn't sure if he even wanted to know.

Levi stepped up onto the upper level that overlooked the floor below, his step not faltering in the slightest. He turned his head slowly though, and was met Eren's nervous expression. They stood like that, watching each other for who knows how long before Levi turned and walked over to the metal doors to his office, not sparing another glance in the boys direction.

If he'd had the nerve to get angry, he would've. But for once in his life, he was unable to say anything. He wouldn't even know what to say, if he did open his mouth. And in truth, he was scared. He didn't even know how to face the man that had blood dripping down his arms and clothes. What could you say to someone that had more likely than not, killed someone and acted like nothing had happened? He was stumped.

"Eren."

He blinked, turning in surprise when he realized the man had finally called him by his first name. Levi had stopped in front of the doors, but hadn't moved to open them. Eren turned, confusion clear in his sea green eyes.

"Yes?"

Levi glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, but looked away again so quickly that Eren questioned if he'd actually even seen it at all.

"I need you to open the door for me. I don't want to get it everywhere."

Upon seeing Levi's hands coated in dark red blood, he could only guess that was what he didn't what to get all over the doors' handle. He nodded, reaching out as he walked over to the door and opened it. Levi glanced at him, pausing for a moment, their eyes searching each others for a moment before entering.

Eren wasn't sure what to do. Did he follow him in? Just hold the door open and then walk away? He didn't get the chance to move before Levi answered his question for him. 

"Get in here. I can't touch anything."

Nodding, he stepped inside of Levi's office and quietly closed the door behind him as he turned and waited. He wasn't going to do anything that wasn't asked of him, and he decided that if Levi got pissy, he would just walk out and let him deal with his problems on his own. 

Levi had started walking over to his desk, but at last second, changed direction and made his way over to a couch that sat vertical next to the window-wall. He sat down, glancing over at Eren and nodded his head for him to follow. He did follow, but the entire time, Eren's head was clouded. Everything made sense in the same way it didn't. It was making his head hurt and his blood race. 

"Brat, snap out of it. I can't get anything done with you just standing there."

Eren blinked, looking down to see Levi staring at him with an oddly calm expression. It was alarming, now that Eren thought about it, but Levi had been extremely calm the entire time. He hadn't sounded bored or irritated like he usually did, he just seemed. . . blank. Devoid of emotion. Even his eyes appeared blank, like he was looking at something Eren couldn't see although he was staring strait at him. 

Taking a deep breath, despite the shiver running through his body, he apologized and asked what he could do. Levi didn't acknowledge his apology, but motioned for Eren to kneel in front of him, which he did without pause. When he was just barely below eye-level with the shorter man, Levi held out his hands. Eren stared at them, dread taking over when he saw the dark blood coating his gloves.

"Take them off."

Eren was shaking. He could feel his body shivering uncontrollably, not wanting to, but unable to look away from the blood. The stained fabric of the gloves couldn't absorb anymore of the dark liquid, and Eren's eyes widened in horror when he saw several drops of it fall off Levi's fingers and slink onto Eren's bent knees, sinking into the fabric of his pants. He let out a horrified gasp and jumped away, all the while keeping his wide eyes locked on the blood. Everywhere there was blood, Eren's eyes were drawn to the spot, although he wanted nothing more than to just look away, he couldn't. 

"N-no. . . I can't. . ."

Levi sighed, lowering his elbows to rest on his knees so that the blood dripping off of his fingers wouldn't fall onto the rest of his clothes,  instead tainting the black and white tile underneath his feet. "Eren. Calm down," he said, again, with no emotion. "There's a closet on the other side of the room next to the chair you saw Hanji sitting in the other day. Go there and look for an apron. There should be a few hanging up in there somewhere. We don't need you getting dirty while you help me do this." 

Eren could do nothing but blindly do what Levi had asked of him. His hands were still shaking and his breathing was uneven, the sight of so much blood causing his body to go under in a miniature panic attack.

When he reached the other side of the room, he steadied himself on the wall as he tried to catch his breath and regain his senses, trying to force back the panic from overtaking him. He dared a quick glance over his shoulder to see Levi staring blankly at his hands, his usually grey orbs dimmed to the point that they almost appeared black. Eren shivered, remembering that Eld had held the same expression in his eyes when he'd seen him help his injured comrade through the door.

The inside of Eren's mouth was starting to taste sour.

He took another deep breath and griped the closet handle, opening it as slowly as he dared. There was nothing unusual about it,  it was just filled with several coats and jackets, all hung up.

Along with a few guns.

And chains.

And knives. 

But ya' know, no big deal or anything. This was totally normal.

Holding back the bile in his throat, Eren rummaged through what must have been Levi's personal belongings in search of the aprons he'd told him about. He soon found a couple behind two large assault rifles, which Eren pretended were another pair of jackets.

He closed the door and walked back to Levi, who hadn't moved in the slightest. It was only when he bent down in front of him again did the steel eyes come up to meet him. 

Eren froze.

Levi looked. . . bad. Odd bad.

It unsettled Eren more than he'd care to admit.

Without sparing anymore time, Levi reached forward again to have Eren take his gloves for him. Using a pair of gloves he'd found in the apron's pocket he'd thrown over his head, he reached out and grabbed the end of Levi's own glove and started to roll it off his hand so the blood wouldn't drip off his fingertips anymore. When he'd successsfully removed the glove, he placed it on the floor next to him and reached back for the other one.

"Why are you so afraid of blood?" the emotionless voice asked above him.

Eren paused, surprised by the sudden question. Levi was staring down at him, everything blank, but Eren knew that if he didn't want to know, the man probably wouldn't have asked.

But in truth, he didn't really know why the sight of blood affected him so badly. It just did. It wasn't necessarily the greatest thing to look at to begin with. Maybe it was the strong scent of iron that got to him. Red, iron smelling liquid.

He shrugged in answer. "I don't really know. It might just be because I've never really. . . seen so much of it before. Up close at least."

Levi hummed lowly, waiting patiently as Eren removed the other glove on his right. Eren tried not to notice that since Levi's gloves had been thoroughly soaked, his hands were still wet with the scarlet substance.

"I want to say I'm surprised, but I'm not.  Being the spoiled little shit you are, you would never know what really went into the work of being in a gang. The blood, the killing, the drugs-" He stopped, eyes wavering slightly as he gazed that his bloodied gloves on the tiled floor. "The things that sister of yours must have done to keep you so ignorant of how she actually lived. For you, none the less."

That made Eren stop. He'd never even thought about what Mikasa did. Or what she could to. But he knew how capable she was, and  now that he thought about it, it wasn't too hard to picture her sitting in the same spot as Levi right now, with blood running down her clothes and face. . . He shivered.

Levi stood then, asking Eren if he could help him out of his coat, to which he silently agreed to. Levi slipped his arms out when the buckles around his chest and waist where undone, letting Eren peel off the article of clothing before tossing the trench coat on a bag he'd grabbed beforehand, bending down to stuff it inside and tie a knot at the top.

By now, Levi was only wearing his pants and white long-sleeved dress shirt from before. Eren couldn't help but laugh dryly at that. Levi was wearing professional clothes to go out and kill people. It made sense he guessed, since it was kind of his field of activity after all. The profession of killing.  

 His boots and pants were the only things that had any traces of blood still left on them, and Levi told him that he could do the rest by himself, once his hands were washed off. He'd just need Eren to take them from him when he was done.

So now Eren was standing outside the bathroom door behind the couch, taking every article of clothing that Levi handed him, when he opened it.

It was about twenty minutes later that anyone spoke, and again it was Levi, from the confinements of the bathroom and through a closed door.

"You can leave now. I need to shower, but you need to come back after I'm done. We need to talk."

Eren frowned, not pleased with having to spend more time with his kidnapper than he already had. "Fine."

"Just tell Hanji I'm showering, she'll know where to go from there."

Eren's mind immediately went to the gutter, but he agreed and turned to leave him to his shower. The amount of dried blood he'd seen on Levi's chest and arms would be a real pain to scrub off, Eren knew for sure, and would more than likely take some time to get rid of. Eren guessed he'd have some time before he'd have to be back. He glanced down at his own bloody clothes, taking in the apron with a returned vigor of fear and disgust. While he had no problem watching people bleed out or spill blood, he had only even seen something like that at a distance, far enough away that he wouldn't have to get involved or become apart of it. From that distance, he could see the blood without seeing the detail surrounding it. It was safe, and didn't require him to see the pain, and suffering, and damage it caused. 

But this was a whole new experience he'd hardly been ready for. Looking from his apron, to his bloodied gloves he'd used to get rid of Levi's own bloody clothes, Eren once again tasted the sourness in his mouth, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to hold it back this time. 

Racing for the door, Eren barley made it outside before he threw up the contents of his stomach onto the tile floor of the balcony's level, heaving forcefully. He'd been in such a a hurry to exit Levi's office, that he hadn't even notice the small group of people standing at the top of one of the staircases, who'd been chatting quietly amongst themselves before he'd thrown the door open.

"Oh my God, Eren!"

The sound of frantic footsteps echoed throughout the lobby as someone rushed to his side, but he was too busy retching to know who it was. A comforting hand was placed on his back, rubbing soothing circles as he finished, his breathing heavy and rushed. His eyes fluttered closer and pulled his brows together, waiting to see if he'd vomit again. After a minute or two, he figured he was good. 

He turned his head to see who had come to his aid, somewhat relived to find Hanji smiling down at him when their eyes met. 

"Hey there Eren, you okay now?"

He nodded, pushing himself off the floor and stood with his back slightly hunched, wiping the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. 

 _Great, now I have to wash both my jeans_  and _my shirt. Gross._

"Eren, what happened? Why'd you run out of Levi's office to throw up? I mean, good choice, if you'd puked in his office he would've probably skinned you alive, but that's besides the point!" She screamed, holding her hands out and waving them in front of her frantically. "What happened? Why did you get sick?" She froze, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Did he punch you?"   

 "What? No!"

Her sinister gaze dropped, smiling brightly once more. "Great! Then tell me why you're sick. I will find a cure, I swear, it won't hurt much-"

Eren's eyes widened, not wanting to even begin to imagine what she was about to finish saying. "It's fine, really! I just. . . Levi asked me to help get him undressed, and-"

"OHHHH, did he now?! Well, that was pretty naughty on his part, asking a cute little piece of ass like you to help undress him! What was that deviant thinking!? But i'm so proud at the same ti-"

"Oh my god, Hanji, no! It wasn't like that!" he sighed, running a hand over his face. "He had blood on his clothes, so I decided to help him get his gloves off and stuff."

Hanji's smile faded, her usual happy smile replaced with a worried frown. 

"You. . . Levi let you in his office when he was like that?"

Eren tipped his head, confused. "Yeah, why?"

She said nothing, staring down at Eren with a look he couldn't quite figure out. 

". . . Alright then, how was he? How did he look?"

Eren thought back to when he went to grab the apron, only to turn around and see Levi with that odd gleam in his eyes. The entire time he'd been in there, Eren had felt that something was of about the gang leader.

"I don't know, he just seemed really. . . out of it, I guess? Distant is probably the best way to describe it. But the entire time. . . " Eren paused. "He was giving off this odd vibe. Almost like he was gonna crumble at any moment.. . ." He glanced down at his hands, picking at one of his nails nervously.

"Shit. He's unstable." Hanji pinched the bridge of her nose, brow furrowed. "Did he say anything else?"

"No, only to tell you that he's in the shower? Don't know what the fuck that means, but-"

"Fuck, it's even worse than I thought."

Eren looked up, blinking on confusion. 

"Huh?"

By then Hanji had already stepped past him and was heading for the double metal doors. She reached inside of her white lab coat and pulled out something that Eren couldn't see. Just as she reached the doors to Levi's office, she stopped, staring at the metal without blinking.

"Eren," she began.

". . Yeah?"

She paused, seeming as though she was carefully weighing her words before she spoke. "Did he hurt you at all?"

His eyes narrowed. This whole thing was starting to get really strange. It was suspicious to say the least. 

"No. He didn't even touch me. Why?" he asked.

Hanji sighed in what must have been relief. "No reason. Just wanted to make sure!" She smiled, reaching for the handle.

"Wait, what?! Hanji-!"

Too late, she was already inside and locking the door. 

He sighed, cursing under his breath. These people. . . how was he even supposed to deal with them? There were so many things that he didn't understand, and Levi and Hanji were very quickly becoming some of those things. 

He needed out of here before he lost his mind. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few minutes after Hanji had disappeared into the depths of Levi's office, Gunther had came up to him saying that Hanji had texted him and asked to take Eren back to his room for a while. While it pissed him off that he had people calling the shots for him now, he obeyed obediently and let the man walk him back to his room literally twenty steps away. And to make things even worse, Gunther had said that he'd have to lock the door until everything was taken care of.

Eren could only guess that 'everything' included Levi and the rest of his team that had come back from the incident bearing injuries and bullet holes. Not that he liked being caged in this boring old room, but he decided he'd respect Hanji's wishes just to give the people who'd gotten injured some space. And besides, this was the perfect opportunity to try and come up with an escape plan. He'd just have to come up with better ideas so that Levi wouldn't be able to guess them as easily as he had all the times before. 

So for the past few hours after he'd showered and changed his clothes, Eren had been laying on his back and staring up at the ceiling from his bed, trying out escape plans in his head. He didn't get the luxury to write any of his ideas down, because he was sure that someone would more than likely frequent his room to get rid of or gain any knowledge about his plans. So he thought them out in his head instead. It was a less effective way since it was easy to forget key points, but it was the only choice he had at the moment.

He knew that if he had any chance of reaching out for help, it would be when he was finally permitted outside to do the gangs bidding with them. He'd have to take advantage of that time to leave signs for his sister, who he was sure was already out looking for him. If he could leave small clues, than that might be his best option. . .

A sudden knock on the door pulled him away from his thoughts, and he leaned up on his elbows to allow himself better access to see who wanted to speak with him. The door creaked open when they heard no response, poking their head inside. Eren relaxed slightly, letting out a sigh. It was only Petra. 

"Petra, what are you doing here?"

She smiled sweetly, opening the door further so the hall light shone into his darkened room. "Corporal wants to see you, he said he told you to come by later but you never showed up. So, I'm here to get you."

He'd completely forgotten about that. Shit. 

"Ugh, alright fine, take me away," he grumbled, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and stood, making his way to Petra. 

 She nodded and turned to walk back down the small hall, Eren close on her heels. Twenty steps later they stood in front of the steel doors, Eren pushing open the small obstacle that separated him from Trost's most powerful gang leader.   

The door closed behind him and Petra was left outside.

Before him, sitting on the same couch he had sat on only several hours ago dripping in blood, was Levi. He had changed his clothes to black skinny jeans and a navy blue dress shirt. A white suit was draped over the back of the couch next to him, but he seemed to be ignoring it. 

Hanji was at his desk, sorting through papers and not paying any attention at all to her surroundings, too investing in her work to notice much else. Levi on the other hand, glanced over upon hearing the steel door close. He was resting his cheek on top of his hand, glancing out the window one last time before he crossed his legs and leaned back into the couch.

"Eren, come here."

He snorted, shoving his hands in his pockets but listened to Levi anyway. 

"Sit."

He paused, staring at the empty space next to the man uncertainly. That didn't seem like a good idea.

"I said sit, Jaeger, don't make me tell you a third time."

Eren sat down.

Cobalt blue orbs locked onto his face, a deadly seriousness in them now. Eren gulped, wanting to glance away.

"There are things you need to know, and things you need to be ready for. Today was one of those things you needed to know, but weren't quite ready for yet. Let me tell you that things like that happen often around here, as they do for any gang. You need to be prepared to handle the blood that'll be down the road, and soon you'll need to be ready to spill that blood first-hand if needed."

Eren nodded. Levi sounded normal again, no emotionless in his voice or eyes. Whatever had been wrong with him before didn't seem to be bothering him right now, and that made Eren relax a little more. But his words sent a chill through his body and left a sour feeling in his stomach. 

But before he even had the chance to over-think his soon-to-be situation, Levi cut in, a hard gleam in his eyes. 

"Eren. The day will come when you need to kill. Know this now. Be ready for it. Because the first time I killed someone, I wasn't ready, and my entire life becomes chaos when I kill now." He stopped, glancing over at Hanji for a moment before training his gaze back out the window. 

"I usually keep to myself after missions like today's. To prevent myself from hurting others, because Eren," his eyes grew dangerous, and cold, warning written all over them. "When I kill people, stay away from me."

Eren didn't understand why Levi was telling his this, it didn't make sense. Why was he saying this?

"Eren, listen to me. Stay away from me if we're together when a battle happens. Please, I don't want to hurt you." Levi was almost begging. 

Eren didn't like it. 

This was all so strange.

"Why?"

Levi's head tipped, frustration clear in his features. "Why what?"

It just didn't make sense.

"Why are you trying to protect me?" 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter was inspired by a Nightcore song I was listening to while writing this.


End file.
